Sintering machine



2 Shae t-Sheet l INVENTOR Filed Nov. 5, 1922 TTORNEY April 22 1924. 491,778

H. J. STEHLI S INTERING MACHINE Filed Nov. 5, 1922 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR Zemj/TJZdZd BY ATTORNEY m 26m Patented Apr. 22, 1924.

UNITED. STATES HENRY J. STEHLL OF CEDAR GROVE, NEW JERSEY.

SINTERING MACHINE.

Application filed November 3, 1922. Serial No. 598,925.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HENRY J. STEHLI, a citizen of the United States, and resident of Cedar Grove, in the county of Essex and State of New Jersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Sintering Machines, of which the following is a specification.

In certain kinds of machines for treating ores, such as for desulphurizing and sintering ores, it has been customary to cause pallets or receptacles containing the ore to be treated to be moved over an air suction box or chest, whereby air is drawn into the box through the ore on the pallets, the ore having been ignited by suitable means, so that combustion of the ore is maintained during its travel over the suction box. Various means have been provided to cause the pallets or ore receptacles to travel over the wind or suction box or boxes with a minimum loss of air drawn into the box other than through the material to be dried, roasted or sintered in the pallets. The pallets or receptacles have been arranged to slide along rails and have been provided with laterally disposed wheels that could rest upon tracks, but by reason of wear on the rubbing surfaces between the pallets and the rails, and due to heat and dust conditions, no system of lubrication has been found to overcome the wear at such surfaces, so far as I know, whereby leakage of air into the wind or suction box occurs. Attempts have been made to reduce the wear between the pallets and rails by supporting the weight of the pallets while over the wind or suction box by means of tracks under the wheels of the pallets, which has been only partially successful because if the distance between the wind or suction box top and the bottoms of the pallets is left so as to be appreciable, serious leakage at once results, while on the other hand ifsuch distance is very small wear takes place in the Wheels very shortly and allows the bottoms of the pallet to rest on the suction box top the same as if the wheels were not there. Attempts have been made to overcome such wear, as for instance by extending the pallet sides down below the pallet bottom and making the seal against the side surfaces, and also by making deep grooves in the sides of the pallets and inserting a movable metal bar which rested against the wind or suction boxat the top and rode on it, thus making a seal until the bar or the suction box surface wore. The efforts to make continuous tight joints between the moving pallets and the wind or suction box have proved unsatisfactory, because, due to the method of constructionthe wearing surfaces have been made of cast iron, malleable iron or steel, and the cost of replacement has been serious when the parts wore.

The object of my invention is to provide simple and effective means to produce practically air tight joints between the movable receptacles or pallets and the upper open portion of the wind or suction boxes which will maintain a seal against the pallets by reason of the reduction of pressure within the boxes, the sealing means being flexible and relatively soft so as not to wear the metal of the receptacles or the wind boxes, and whereby the sealing means may be readily removed and replaced at relatively low cost.

My invention comprises novel details of.

improvement and combinations of parts that will be more fully hereinafter set forth and then ointed out in the claims.

Re erence is to be had to the accompany- 'ing drawings forming a part hereof, where- Fig. 1 is a side elevation of a machine for treating ores embodying my invention;

Fig. 2 is a detail perspective view lllustrating one form of sealing means between 1:; pallet or receptacle and a wind or suction Fig. 3 is an enlarged cross section of Fig. 1;

, Figs. 4 and 5 are sectional details showing modified forms of sealing means between the receptacle or pallet and the wind box;

Fig. 6 is a sectional detail illustrating the lap of flexible sealing strips between the ends of adjacent pallets;

Fig. 7 is a cross section illustrating a dead plate and sealing means for the receptacles of Fig. 3, and

Fig. 8 is a sectional detail illustrating the position of receptacle and sealing means of Fig. 5 with relation to the dead plate.

Similar numerals of reference indicate corresponding parts.

The numeral 1 indicates the main frame of the machine, which may be of any suitable or usual construction. The receptacle or pallets for the ore or material to be treated are indicated at 2, and may be of any suitable or usual construction, preferably provided with removable perforated grates 3 rewith grooved wheels 5 rotative u on hubsor shafts 6 projecting from the si es of the receptacles, which grooved wheels are adapted to travel upon tracks supported by the frame 1. The uppertracks-7 are shown substantially horizontally disposed and spaced apart for the travel of the row tacles or pallets therebetween, which trac may be supported on beams 8 carried by the main frame. Adjacent to the receptacle receiving ends of the tracks 7 means are provided to apply the receptacles to the tracks. I have illustrated sprocket wheels 9 which are carried by shaft 10 and which may be spaced apart to receive the wheels or rollers 5 of the receptacles or pallets to deliver the latter to the tracks 7. At their oppositeends the tracks 7 are shown curved downwardly and under at 7 and outside of said curved parts 7 is located the curved portion 11 of tracks 11 which incline downwardly and terminate adjacent to the sprocket wheels 9, the rear portions of said tracks being curved upwardly at 11, outside of the sprocket wheels, whereby the receptacles or pallets that are delivered from the horizontal portions of tracks 7 will descend between the curved portions 7, 11 and travel down the inclined tracks 11 to be elevated by the sprocket wheels 9 for delivery to the tracks 7. The parts above described are substantially similar to my Letters Patent No. 1,027,084 granted May 21, 1912, and to correspondinglparts shown in U. S. Letters Patent 0.. 1,027,110 granted May 21, 1912. Ore or other material to be treated may be delivered into the movable receptacles or pallets froma hopper 12, and flame for ignition of the material in the receptacles may be supplied from a gas pipe and burners, at 13, in a well known way. In the aforesaid Letters Patent, the lower surfaces of the receptacles near their edges slide upon; wearing strips and the rollers 0r wheels of the receptacles are not intended to roll upon tracks or rails, which merely serve as uides for the receptacles.

' In accordance wit my invention the wheels or rollers 5 of the receptacles or pallets always travel upon the tracks 7. At 14 is one or more suction or wind boxes provided with opening 15 to which a pipe connected with an. air exhaust apparatus or blower, such as a centrifugal fan, may be connected and operated in any usual way for producin exhaust in the wind boxto cause air to blow through the material upon the grate bars of the pallet. The suction or wind box or boxes are supported u on the main frame in any usual way. 6 tracks 7 may be cast integral with the wind box, as shown in Fig. 3, or may be. sepamemes rate and attached thereto, as illustrated in Figs. 4 and 5, where the webs 7 of the tracks 7 are riveted to the adjacent walls of the wind box.

In my present improvements the surfaces of the rece tacles or pallets adjacent to the wind box 0 not slide u on rigid rails for their support nor to ma s air tight joints, but are 3 aced from the wind box so that as the w eels 5 of the receitacles alwa s travel upon the tracks 7 t e receptac as will not encounter the metal of the wind box or of the tracks. To seal the spaces between the receptacles or pallets and the wind boxes I provide relatively soft and flexible stri s of material, indicated at 16, which may secured to the wind box or to the adjacent track to cooperate with corresfionding surfaces of the receptacles or pa ets, or may and easy to replace when worn, and whic will not wear the metal of the receptacles or the wind boxes. As shown in Fi 3 the strips 16 ma be detachably secure at the pro ecting e ge portion 14 of the wind box or the track 7, by means of screws or bolts 17, in osition to bear against the surfaces 2 of t e rece tacles or allots, which surfaces are to e prefera l machined perfectly-smooth. In Fig. 3 t e surfaces 2' are at the sides of the framing of the receptacles 2, whereas in Fig. 4 the surfaces 2 are upon ribs 2" projecting laterall from the receptacles to receive the strips 16 to which strips are shown secured by bolts or screws 17 to the rails. Other suitable means may be provided for securing the strips 16 in place in such a manner as to be easily detached and replaced for renewal.

In the form shown in Fi 5 the stri s 16 are secured to rib 2 of t e receptac e or pallet and travel with the latter, bearing against a smooth surface 7 extending from the rail 7 at the top of the wind box, forming a tight slidable seat between such surfaces.

In the form shown in Fi 3 and 4 the strips 16 may be of any esired length, whereas in the form shown in Figs. 5 and 6 the strips 16 are a plied to each recelptacle or pallet and are s own of suflicient ength to overlap at the end-to-end portions of ad- 'jacent receptacles. In such case one of the the adjacent receptacle to make tight joints between the overlapping strips.

At op osite ends of the wind box or boxes, where tie receptacles or pallets 2 advance to and pass from the latter, dead plates 18 are secured, over which the receptacles slide. In Fig. 7 the strip 16 extends along the dead late to engage the movable receptacle or pa let. In Fig. 8 strip 16 is carried by the receptacle or pallet to slide along the dead plate. The strips 16 resist leakage of air at the dead plates and the receptacles.

When the machine is operated and a vacuum or suction is maintained in the wind box or boxes 14 such vacuum or suction will tend to pull the flexible sealing strips 16 against the surfaces 2* or 7, so as to prevent air from passing into the wind box at the joints between the moving receptacles or pallets and the wind box, while at the same time the receptacles will be free to travel forwardly either slidin against the flexible strips, or the strips sli ing against the surfaces 7, with a minimum of wear, friction and consumption of power.

By means of my improvements I am enabled greatly to reduce or obviate the loss of air into or from the wind boxes, and to enable the pallets to travel freely over the wind boxes, thus reducing friction and cost of operation compared with machines of the class described now in use and known to me for sintering, desulphurizing and otherwise treating ores. Such advantages are attained by reason of the fact that the receptacles or pallets do not slide upon metal surfaces but are always supported by their rolls or wheels 5 upon the tracks and that 'oints between the receptacles and the wind boxes are relatively soft and flexible with smooth easy sliding contact along the flexible strips and movin parts, so that leakage of air at such strips into or from the wind boxes is obviated and Wear upon the moving parts is reduced, while at the same time replacement of the strips, when necessary, may be readily effected at comparatively low cost.

While I have illustrated my invention as embodied in a well known construction of sintering machine it will be understood that my invention is not limited to the details of construction and arrangement of parts set forth, since the same may be varied, within the scope of the appended claims, without de arting from the spirit of my invention.

aving now described my invention what I claim is:

1. An or treating machine comprising a wind box, movable receptacles, means to support said receptacles to travel relatively to the wind box, and flexible material of such flexibility as to effect sealing engagement cooperative between the wind box and receptacles to resist the flow of air between the wind box and the receptacles at said material.

2. An ore treating machine comprising a frame provided with tracks for movable receptacles, a wind box, movable receptacles, and flexible sealing material providing joints between the wind box and the receptacles to resist the flow of air at such joints.

3. An ore treating machine comprising tracks, a wind box, movable receptacles having wheels to travel upon said tracks, said receptacles being supported by said tracks and wheels wholly out of contact with the wind box, and flexible sealing material cooperative with the receptacles and wind box to resist the flow of air at the joints.

4. An ore treating machine comprising spaced tracks, a wind box, movable receptacles, means to movably support said receptacles upon said tracks wholly out of contact with the wind box, certain of said parts having smooth surfaces, and flexible sealin strips secured to other of said arts and o such flexibility as to effect sea ing engagement with said surfaces to provide substantially air tight joints.

5. An ore treating machine comprising a wind box, a plurality of movable receptacles having smooth surfaces, means to support said receptacles to travel relatively to the wind box, and flexible sealing strips supported adjacent to the open side of the wind box to bear against said smooth surfaces of the receptacles to resist the flow of air at said surfaces.

6. An ore treating machine comprising a wind box, movable receptacles, means to support said receptacles to travel relatively to the wind box, and flexible sealing material comprising lubricating material cooperative between the wind box and receptacles and of such flexibility as to resist the flow of air therebetween.

' 7. An ore treating machine comprising a wind box, movable receptacles, means to support said receptacles to travel relatively to the wind box, and flexible sealing material impregnated with lubricating material 00- operative between the wind box and rece tacles and of such flexibility as to resist tl ie flow of air therebetween.

8. An ore treating machine comprising a wind box, movable receptacles, means to support said receptacles to travel relatively to the wind box, and flexible sealing material having a lubricous surface and of such flexibility as to effect sealing engagement between the wind box and the receptacles to resist the flow of air into the wind box adj acent to the receptacles.

9. An ore treating machine comprising a wind box, movable receptacles, means to support said receptacles to travel relatively to the wind box, and sealing means comprisin flexible air-resisting fabrlc provided wit 'thetwind box, andflexible sealin "lubricating material cooperative between the wind box and the receptacles to resist the flow of air therebetween.

. 10. An ore treating machine comprising a wind box, movable receptacles, means to support said receptacles to travel relatively to Iinaterilal com risin fabric impregnated wit grap ite cgoper tive between the wind box and the receptacles to resist the flow of air therebetween.

11. An ore treating machine comprising a wind box, movable receptacles, meansto support said receptacles out of contact with the wind box to travel relatively thereto, and flexible sealing material having a lubricous memes surface and of such flexibility as to efiect sealin engagement between the wind box and t e receptacles to resist the flow of air therebetween. I 4 1 12. An ore treating machine comprising a wind. box, movable'receptacles, means to .su port said receptacles out of contact with t e wind box to travel relatively thereto, and flexible sealing material comprising fabric haying graphite thereon cooperative between the wind box and the receptacles to resist the flow of air therebetween.

Signed at 41 Park Row New York, in the county of New York and state of New York, so

this 26th day of October A. D. 1922.

HENRY J. STEHLI. 

